SoundBlaster-drivers for Win2k
kX Project - SoundBlaster Audigy Drivers.
The Soundblaster Audigy is a great audio-card. I recently bought the Audigy Platinum (the one with the nice front-panel), and I really like it. What I didnt' like though was the Creative Labs-support for Win2k/WinXP. Creative promises us the nicest features, but seems to only support those features for Win 9x/ME.
I've done some research, and this is what I came up with:
- The Creative ASIO-support sucks. ASIO stands for Audio Stream Input/Output.
If you've set your box to use ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface), you probably have encountered some SoundBlaster-problems already (I'll spare you the details). To make a long story short: Creative advices to disable ACPI. Not a very 'creative' solution if you ask me.
- The ASIO-quality sucks. Everything seems to be ok in Win9x, but I've encountered lots of timing-problems in 2k (using Cubase). The longer my box is turned on, the bigger the problems get.
The solution is simple: the kX Project.
The kX Project (a Russian/Canadian co-authorship) is a free project, providing drivers for, amongst others, Creative.
Installation:
The dll's (rar): Simply copy them to c:\winnt\system32.
The driver (zip)
After installation, your system will sound as clear as it should be:
- 64-channel DirectSound 2D-support (you'll notice that kX inversed the front-and rear-outs. This is done intentionally, because the Live!-series uses an AC97-codec for the front-, and a Philips I2S-codec for the rear-out. The Philips one is simply much better than the AC97).
- DSP-effects: kX comes with DSP-effects such as delay, chorus, flanger... You can even make your own DSP-effects with the kX SDK.
- The drivers use a built-in AC3-decoder, perfectly compliant with the Creative Playcenter.
kX uses the ProLogica-DSP-plugin, which decodes Dolby Surround- or ProLogic-streams to front-, rear- and center-signals, with a much better and clearer 3D-sound than CMSS (Creative Multi-Speaker Surround).
- Midi- and soundfont support: the soundfont-support ain't as extended as Creative's...yet.
- Audio-stream routing: kX comes with a built-in audio-stream routing tool.
- 10-channel equalizer.
I recently installed the kX-drivers, and the difference is obvious, even for untrained ears...
